[Altephor]

I have always been a terrible runner. Always. I used to run cross country back in highschool and I always came in dead last, which was fine with me, EXCEPT that my times never improved, despite running every day. After my junior year of highschool I stopped doing a lot of cardio though I still swam from time to time. Freshman year of college I started weight training with a little cardio but I stopped doing the cardio eventually because I was so terrible at it and it discouraged me. Last year I started crossfit and very rarely finished a workout because I gassed out early. Any of the daily workouts with running.. forget about it, I was lucky to get one round before quitting. Now in BJJ if I roll for a full round I am gasping for air and can barely move, nevermind fight back. Most of my rolls because of this have ended up with me simply trying to defend with no energy to really put any explosiveness in it or get on the agressive.

My problem seems to stem from air. Even though I am breathing I feel like none of it is getting to my lungs really. When I'm running, my muscles are fine but I am gasping for air. I have been meaning to schedule with my doctor to test for some kind of asthma, but there's never any wheezing or anything, so I don't know about that. No matter how much cardio I do I never seem to improve.

[grrthetree]

asthma?

[shredfighter1]

I would go ask your doctor about it, but you may just have never built a good base. Start jogging for 15 minutes 3 days a week, after you get comfortable with that, add more time. Some peoples bodies need to develop a good strong aerobic base before any type of conditioning goes on. Sounds to me like that's what's wrong, cause having a bad aerobic base can cause you to gasp for air.

[PMC]

By gassing do you mean literally mean laying on the ground ready to pass out.. OR.. Quitting because your mind says your body is tired?

[Altephor]

I mean like on the ground flat, breathing heavy, sometimes head spinning a bit. Though the spins could have been brought on by dehydration which I've made improvements on.

[shredfighter1]

Like PMC said, fatigue when running is usually your bodies response to something it's not used to. Like a safety mechanism, tells your body to chill out, if you run past it, it'll go away and endorphins will come and you'll have your second wind. I mean, if you literally feel like your dying, then don't get to a doctor, it could be a more serious respiratory, or heart disorder or something. You never know.

[Reev]

You should go see a doctor like you have been meaning to.If you cough, wheeze or feel out of breath during or after exercise, you may have exercise-induced asthma. As with asthma triggered by other things, exercise-induced asthma occurs when the main air passages of your lungs, the bronchial tubes, become inflamed. The muscles of the bronchial walls tighten, and cells in the lungs produce extra mucus, further narrowing your airways. This can cause signs and symptoms that range from minor wheezing to severe trouble breathing.

If you have exercise-induced asthma, physical exertion may be the only thing that triggers your symptoms. Or exercise may just be one of several things that trigger an asthma attack. The good news is that exercise-induced asthma doesn't have to limit your athletic goals — whether your aim is a weekly jog or elite competition. Proper treatment can help you keep symptoms under control — and help you exercise as much as you want.


Signs and symptoms of exercise-induced asthma are the same as those caused by asthma induced by other triggers.

Common signs and symptoms, which occur during or after exercise, include:

Coughing
Wheezing
Chest tightness or pain
Shortness of breath

Additional signs and symptoms of exercise-induced asthma include:

Fatigue during exercise
Poor athletic performance
A long recovery time after exercise
Typically, signs and symptoms of exercise-induced asthma start after five to 15 minutes of exercise. In some cases, signs and symptoms of exercise-induced asthma start after your workout is over.

[grrthetree]

^^ Called it